ss number needed to enroll in school?
Nov 12th 2013, 7:50 pm
#16
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: ss number needed to enroll in school?
True, children don't have to be in school to be deemed to be receiving education, but no state can turn children away from the school if they are resident in the school district. Across the US there is an absolute right to free education (at the point of delivery) for children in state schools through to age 18.
From first grade, yes, but for kindergarten, they only need to provide half day.
Down my way in town, wanting full day you've got to pay up front if you want to be in the lottery and if you want/need financial assistance for that fee, you've got to show proof of legal status in the US.
Dec 15th 2013, 3:36 pm
#18
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2006
Location: Moorpark, California
Posts: 99
Re: ss number needed to enroll in school?
Hi,
We are in RSM just up the road. My kids are 6 and 9 so let me know if you'd like to meet up when you get here. We just enrolled our kids this school year. Check the school website (we are Saddleback school district) we needed birth certificates, proof of residency (that's address in the school district), vaccination records (you won't have all the requirements, Hep B is needed here) but you can explain that and commit to getting them and you'll be fine. You will need them if you apply for green cards anyway. In the lower grades you also need a physical from your doctor, it's a standard form that they provide.
Funny story, I thought I was being clever and showed them their passports as proof of birth date. Unbeknownst to me they photocopied the visa page and then called me 2 days later in a panic saying they couldn't enroll the kids on those documents!
Good luck xx
We are in RSM just up the road. My kids are 6 and 9 so let me know if you'd like to meet up when you get here. We just enrolled our kids this school year. Check the school website (we are Saddleback school district) we needed birth certificates, proof of residency (that's address in the school district), vaccination records (you won't have all the requirements, Hep B is needed here) but you can explain that and commit to getting them and you'll be fine. You will need them if you apply for green cards anyway. In the lower grades you also need a physical from your doctor, it's a standard form that they provide.
Funny story, I thought I was being clever and showed them their passports as proof of birth date. Unbeknownst to me they photocopied the visa page and then called me 2 days later in a panic saying they couldn't enroll the kids on those documents!
Good luck xx
Dec 18th 2013, 7:02 pm
#19
Grumpy Know-it-all
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 8,928
Re: ss number needed to enroll in school?
The school situation in the US is a bit weird because what the law says and how it actually works are two separate things.
For example, say you want your child to go to high school in the US and you live in Mexico or Canada, well supposedly they can only attend for one year and as a cross-border commuter they would need to get F-3 and an I-20 for that.
However there is a Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, which basically says any child in that school district cannot be denied a public education regardless of immigration status. Moreover local law requires school age children to be in school.
So on that basis the school can ask for whatever they want under local laws, but nothing has to be provided unless the education is denied for some other reason, e.g. you don't physically reside there.
So you end up with these situations where uncle/aunt so and so say that so and so lives with them and is entitled to a public education even though the actual parents live in Mexico. The kid might be illegally in the country, but pretty low priority for ICE, plus the child isn't working.
I've encountered this with Canadians as well. Oh the child is a troubled child, I'm going to send him/her to live with the relatives in the US... so the immigration lawyer or whoever tells them legally it cannot be done but in reality it happens.
Why anyone in their right mind in Canada would want to send their kids voluntarily to school in the US though is beyond me.
For example, say you want your child to go to high school in the US and you live in Mexico or Canada, well supposedly they can only attend for one year and as a cross-border commuter they would need to get F-3 and an I-20 for that.
However there is a Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, which basically says any child in that school district cannot be denied a public education regardless of immigration status. Moreover local law requires school age children to be in school.
So on that basis the school can ask for whatever they want under local laws, but nothing has to be provided unless the education is denied for some other reason, e.g. you don't physically reside there.
So you end up with these situations where uncle/aunt so and so say that so and so lives with them and is entitled to a public education even though the actual parents live in Mexico. The kid might be illegally in the country, but pretty low priority for ICE, plus the child isn't working.
I've encountered this with Canadians as well. Oh the child is a troubled child, I'm going to send him/her to live with the relatives in the US... so the immigration lawyer or whoever tells them legally it cannot be done but in reality it happens.
Why anyone in their right mind in Canada would want to send their kids voluntarily to school in the US though is beyond me.
